Time Will Tell
by MadiWillow
Summary: Gabriella is raped in senior year and falls pregnant. Without telling her friends about it, she and her mom move to Florida. Six years later, she sees an old friend... and it all goes downhill from there. COMPLETE. TxG. -don't read-
1. Prologue

**AN:** Another new HSM story! Woohoo! This story is also completed, with 6 chapters + a prologue and epilogue. This story is very tragic, and sad, and I cried writing it (although the sad part doesn't happen right away). I'm not all that satisfied with the ending, but hopefully I'll have time to tweak it before I post it.

I know this chapter is short... I'm sorry. The next few are longer.

Soo... now read! Review! And criticize!

**Title: **_Time Will Tell  
_**Rating:** _T  
_**Author: **_MadiWillow  
_**Summary: **_Gabriella is raped in senior year and falls pregnant. Without telling her friends about it, she and her mom move to Florida. Six years later, she sees an old friend... and it all goes downhill from there.  
_**Genre:** _Romance/Tragedy  
_**Chapter: **_Prologue_

"_Get in here..."_

"_What are you doing?... no... no, please, don't!"_

"_Shut up, bitch! You had this coming."_

"_No, please, don't... I'll do anything..."_

"_Would you rather I kill your fucking pretty-boy boyfriend?"_

"_..."_

"_Thought so... don't move, this won't take long..."_

Gabriella Montez sat straight up in bed, cold sweat coating her body. She was breathing as though she'd just run in a marathon, tears filling her eyes. She'd been having the same dream for a month and a half now... of her raping...

She threw back the covers of her bed and padded down the hall of her house to her mother's bedroom. Opening the door quietly, she tiptoed to her mother's bed. She poked her mom in the shoulder a couple times before she woke up.

"Gabi!" her mother gasped when she saw her. "Are you all-,"

"I had the dream again," she whispered, starting to cry. "I can't take it anymore."

"Oh, baby." Her mother patted the spot next to her in the bed and Gabriella climbed over her to sit there. "It's okay. Everything's going to be fine." Her mother pulled her into a hug, rocking back and forth slowly as Gabriella cried.

"Mom... I think I want to move," she said quietly.

"What?" her mother asked, breaking apart from her daughter to stare at her. "Move? Why?"

"It's just... he goes to my school!" exclaimed Gabriella. "I never saw his face... but I know he does... what if I see him every day and I don't know it? What if I have classes with him?"

"But what about your friends?" her mother inquired. "You haven't told them yet, have you?"

Gabriella laughed bitterly. "That I was raped and am now with child? No, I don't think so."

"Gabi, they can help you," said her mother soothingly.

"How?" asked Gabriella. "How can they help me? They don't know what I'm going through!"

"You need to give them a chance,"

"I want to move!"

"Gabi, running away won't solve your-,"

"It's not running away!" sobbed Gabriella. "I don't want to go to this school anymore. They'll all soon find out I'm pregnant and I won't be able to tell them all I was raped! And if it somehow does get out that I was raped, everyone will still call me a whore and a slut and nothing will ever be the same again!"

Her mother was silent – Gabriella had a point. High school students, especially girls, can be vicious.

"You know," she said slowly. "My company offered me a position in Florida a couple days ago. I told them I'd think about it. Do you want me to accept it?"

"Yes!" cried Gabriella, relieved. She was moving to Florida – perfect. "When would we leave?"

"Saturday,"

It was Thursday – that meant she only had two days left to tell her friends about her.


	2. Chapter 1

**AN:** Wow! I've never gotten that many reviews for one chapter before! And for such a _short_ chapter too! Thanks!

I'm warning you, though: this story is very sad. Very, very sad. Why?... you'll see.

Anyway, read and review again:)

Oh, wait. And I said on the Prologue that there were 6 chapters + a prologue and epilogue, but it's really 7 chapters. Sorry for the mistake.

**Title: **_Time Will Tell  
_**Rating:** _T  
_**Author: **_MadiWillow  
_**Summary: **_Gabriella is raped in senior year and falls pregnant. Without telling her friends about it, she and her mom move to Florida. Six years later, she sees an old friend... and it all goes downhill from there.  
_**Genre:** _Romance/Tragedy  
_**Chapter: **_Chapter 1_

23-year-old Gabriella Montez hopped into her car after a long day of teaching Physics to high school kids. Physics was always a fun subject for Gabriella herself, but she didn't like the kids who took the class but didn't make an effort. What was the point in taking it, then, Gabriella would ask herself.

She was driving along the streets of Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she had ironically been transferred to from her old job in Santa Fe. She'd been there – teaching at West High, ironically – for a little over a month now and luckily hadn't run into any of her old friends. She wasn't quite ready to face them, since she'd moved away in their senior year with only a couple of day's notice and made it very obvious that she didn't want to talk to them when she hadn't returned any of their calls, text messages, or e-mails. But it was for their own good.

On the first day of school in Gabriella's senior year at East High, she'd been cornered in the girls' room after school and raped by a guy who knew her name and knew who she was dating, but she didn't know who it was because he'd worn had his hood on the whole time.

After that incident, she'd discovered she was pregnant and begged her mom to let them move. She'd promised she'd tell her friends about it, but she never did. It might've made them understand a little bit better, but she didn't want them to have to carry that burden.

Luckily, her mom had been nice enough to hire a private tutor for her senior year until the baby was born, so she didn't end up even going to school her last year. She'd gotten her high school diploma, went to Rollins College, so she could still live at home and have her mother help out with caring for her beautiful daughter, Eva.

Gabriella had prayed, all through the pregnancy, that her daughter would look like her, and she got her wish. Her five-year-old daughter had the exact same curly, dark brown, almost black, hair as her mother, the same brown eyes, and same tan skin. She had the same smile, the same voice, same everything. It was as if there hadn't even been a father involved in the process.

She pulled into her daughters elementary school, where she had Eva stay after school at the day care when she needed to work late. She parked, locked the car, and proceeded into the kindergarten room, where the day care was held.

Entering the room, she looked around for her daughter. She spotted her, drawing a picture with a little boy who look unfamiliar to her. She smiled and approached Eva.

"Hey honey," she said when she reached them.

"Hi, mom!" cried Eva excitedly as she looked up. "This is Zack. I met him today."

She smiled at the little boy, Zack, who had bowl-cut blonde hair and blue eyes. "Hi Zack. I'm Eva's mommy." Gabriella held out her hand to him. He grabbed her fingers and shook his arm enthusiastically.

"Hi Mrs. Eva's mom!" he cried.

"Come on, sweetie, time to go," she said to Eva when Zack let go of her hand.

"Okay," Eva slid off the chair and stuffed the piece of paper she'd been drawing into her backpack. She threw the bag over her shoulder and said, "See you tomorrow Zack!"

"Bye!"

Gabriella waved at Eva's kindergarten teacher, who ran the day care, and led Eva out to the car. She settled herself in the car as Gabriella climbed into the driver's seat. "So how was your day?" Gabriella asked as they started to drive home.

"It was really fun!" exclaimed Eva. "We played with the baby chickens in the morning, and then we took a nap, and then we had lunch, and, um, then we had free time, and that's when I met Zack."

"Oh, so you just met Zack today?"

"Yeah. I was, um, playing with the blocks and he, um, came over and started to play with me. Now we're best friends."

"How sweet," _Like kindergarten..._

When they got home a few minutes later, Eva ran into the house while Gabriella locked the car and entered after her, at a slower pace.

"Mommy, why don't I have a daddy?"

Gabriella stopped what she was doing, which was opening up the fridge. She froze, the fridge halfway open. _I don't know why I'm so shocked,_ she thought to herself. _Eva was bound to ask someday._

She turned around to face her daughter, who was sitting at the counter, on one of their two bar stools, chewing on a banana. "What?"

"Zack was, um, telling me about his daddy today and then he asked what my daddy was like," said Eva. "I told him I don't have a daddy."

"Oh,"

"How come Zack has a daddy and I don't have a daddy?"

"Um..." Gabriella sighed and went to sit next to Eva at the counter. "Honey, there's something I need to tell you." She didn't know why, but she decided to tell Eva the truth.

Well... a form of it, anyway.

"You don't know how babies are made, do you?"

Eva shook her head.

"Well, to make a baby, a boy and a girl have to... play a game," explained Gabriella. "Not all the time, but sometimes this game makes a baby. Well, a long time ago, I was at school and a boy whose name I don't know made me play the game with him, but I didn't want to.."

"Why didn't you just tell him you didn't want to play?" questioned Eva, her face contorted with confusion.

"I did. But he really, really wanted to play it with me. And that's how we made you."

"Oh. Was my daddy happy to have a baby?"

"Um, well... your daddy doesn't know," said Gabriella apologetically.

"He doesn't know?"

"No. I never saw what your daddy looked like."

"Was my daddy a nice guy?"

"I don't think so, sweetie,"

"...oh,"

"I'm sorry," Gabriella leaned in and embraced her daughter. When they pulled apart, Gabriella said, "Now, honey, I don't want you to tell Zack about that."

"Why not?"

"Because it's private. Only you, me, and abuelita know about it."

"Okay, mommy,"

"And don't tell anyone else in your class, okay? Or the day care. Or any of your classmates parents, alright?"

"Yes, mommy,"

"Good girl," Gabriella kissed her daughter on the forehead and tucked a piece of dark, curly hair behind her ears. "Do you have homework?"

Eva shook her head.

"Okay, so you can go play in your room or watch TV," said Gabriella. Eva slid off the stool and tore out of the kitchen, after quickly throwing away the banana peel.

Gabriella sighed deeply and ran a hand through her own curly hair. She hoped she did the right thing, telling Eva about the rape. The only thing she was worried about what Eva telling the whole world about it.

A few days later it was Friday, and West High got out at 1. Since she didn't need to pick up Eva that day (Eva and Zack had become pretty good friends, so Zack's mother was going to take Eva home) and she didn't need to stay after school, she decided to do her grocery shopping.

She made a quick mental list as she was driving to only get what she needed, no extra snacks. She and Eva were a little tight on money. They had a pretty small house, but she was working on a teacher's salary, which wasn't all that much.

Gabriella got a shopping cart and wheeled it through the store, picking up various things such as milk, potatoes, apples, carrots, bananas, and so on. She had just placed a carton of eggs in her cart and turned around to get another and smacked into some guy that was carrying a bag of peaches.

"Oh!" she screamed and fell back, hard, on her tail bone. "Ohhh..." she breathed out in pain, rubbing her back, too embarrassed to look up at the man.

"Oh my, God, I'm sorry!" The guy held out his hand to her, which she took reluctantly and let him pull her up.

"It's fine," she mumbled to the ground, brushing her hair out of her face.

"Wait, Gabriella?"

Her head snapped up and she found herself staring into a pair of gorgeous blue eyes. Her mouth dropped open.

"T-Troy?"


	3. Chapter 2

**AN:** Oh, rejoice, for I have updated.

Sooo, this is a pretty sad chapter, I guess... I don't know. You'll feel bad for a character. The next chapter is a little happier, but not really.

Okay, I'm not makingany sense. Just read and review please!

**Title: **_Time Will Tell  
_**Rating:** _T  
_**Author: **_MadiWillow  
_**Summary: **_Gabriella is raped in senior year and falls pregnant. Without telling her friends about it, she and her mom move to Florida. Six years later, she sees an old friend... and it all goes downhill from there.  
_**Genre:** _Romance/Tragedy  
_**Chapter: **_Chapter 2_

"T-Troy?"

Gabriella stared at him, barely aware that her mouth was wide open. He looked almost the same as he had six years before. The same long, light brown hair, same blue eyes... he just looked older, more defined.

"Gabriella? Oh, my God..." Troy breathed, running a hand through his hair.

"Wow," she agreed.

There was an awkward silence between them, before Troy asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I live here," answered Gabriella, folding her arms over her chest. "I'm a teacher at West High."

"Oh, traitor," joked Troy.

She smiled a little. "Do you still live here? I haven't seen you."

Troy shook his head, but then shrugged. "I didn't, but now I do."

Gabriella nodded, even though she really didn't understand. "What do you do?"

"I'm unemployed right now. I'm living off my previous jobs' salary, which was pretty high."

She nodded again before inquiring, "What happened to Mr. Basketball Star?"

He shrugged again. But then his face hardened and he said, in an accusing voice, "You would've known the answer to that if you ever returned _any_ of my calls."

Gabriella remained silent.

"What happened to you?" Troy pressed on. "You didn't talk to any of us once you moved to Florida! Were you angry or something?"

She shook her head slowly. "No, I wasn't angry."

"Then why?"

"I just got busy, okay?" snapped Gabriella.

"I don't believe that," replied Troy instantly. "Not one bit."

"Well, fine. You don't have to."

They were silent for another moment.

"We need to catch up, Gabriella," said Troy quietly.

She nodded in agreement.

"Do you want to come over?"

Hesitating, Gabriella said, "Um, how about my place? It's just about a mile away."

Troy shrugged. "Sure."

"Okay, I just need to pay,"

"Me too,"

They got in line, but didn't talk. After a few minutes of waiting, they paid and went to their respective cars.

"Just... follow me," said Gabriella lamely as she got into her car and started to drive.

A minute later they reacher her small, one-story, two-bedroom house. She lugged in her three grocery bags, which Troy didn't help carry in. _He must be pretty pissed._

She unlocked the door, which was a challenge, and let Troy in. She placed the bags of food on the kitchen counter and gestured for Troy to sit at their kitchen table.

"Nice place," said Troy awkwardly, looking around.

"Yeah," said Gabriella, putting the groceries away. "Small, though. It's hard, living off a teacher's pay."

Troy nodded. Once Gabriella had finished putting away the food, she pulled out a chair and sat across from him. All too late, she noticed a couple of Eva's dolls scattered around the living room and prayed Troy wouldn't notice.

"So," said Troy bluntly. "Why didn't you return any of our calls?"

"I-I don't know," stuttered Gabriella..

Troy laughed bitterly. "Great answer."

"Well, I'm sorry!" she cried. "I wish I could go back in time and fix things, but I can't. It-," she racked her brains furiously for some excuse. "It was too hard letting you guys go."

"But you didn't _have_ to let us go!" exclaimed Troy. "We could've seen each other over our breaks, or planned to go to the same colleges, or at least colleges near each other! But once you left for Florida, giving us only two days notice-,"

"That's not fair," interrupted Gabriella. "_I_ only had two days notice."

Troy ignored her. "-we never heard from you again. It was as if you disappeared from the face of the Earth."

"Look, I-," she started, but then stopped dead.

The front door had opened and she heard Eva shout, "Bye, Zack!" before running into the kitchen.

_Uh-oh._

"Mommy, today at school was _so fun!_ We-," but then she stopped when she saw Troy. "Oh, hello. My name's Eva. Pleased to meet you." She extended her hand politely.

"Troy," he answered, clearly shocked, as he shook her hand.

"I'm gonna go play in my room, mommy," said Eva before running from the room.

There was a long, awkward silence.

"You... have a daughter?" asked Troy hoarsely.

Gabriella nodded slowly.

"Are you living with someone? Are you engaged? Married?"

She shook her head.

"How old is she?"

Gabriella was going to try and lie, but stopped herself. _Enough with the lies,_ she thought. _He's going to find out someday._

"Five,"

Troy thought about that. "When's her birthday?"

"...June 1st." She knew he was putting the pieces together.

"That means..." he mused. "You got pregnant around September... of our senior year?" he breathed.

Gabriella nodded slowly.

"So _that's_ why you left," he said, staring at her.

"Partly," she said quietly. "I couldn't stand it. I almost felt responsible."

"Well, you _were_ responsible,"

Gabriella stared at Troy, shocked. "Wait, what?"

"Who else is there to blame?" asked Troy, his voice building.

Gabriella stared at him.

"I mean, you're the one that had sex with some guy while we were dating!"

Her mouth fell open. He thought she'd done this by _choice?_ "No, Troy, you-,"

"Who was it?" he asked, his voice shaking.

Gabriella paused. Realizing how bad this sounded, she muttered, "I don't know."

"You don't_ know_?" he shouted, standing up quickly. "You were with more than one guy?"

"Of course not, Troy, you don't understand-!"

"I understand perfectly!" he roared, striding towards the door.

"No, Troy, please listen-,"

"I've had enough!" he yelled, opening the door. "You caused me enough pain and hurt when you disappeared, but now this? I'm sorry, Gabriella – no wait. _You're_ the one who should be sorry." And he walked out, slamming the door behind him so forcefully that the house seemed to shake.

Gabriella stared at the door as she started crying. He didn't believe her. He wouldn't even _listen_ to her.

She broke down and sobbed, crying and sputtering like a child into her arms. She felt small hands encircle her as she lay crying.

"It's okay, mommy," came Eva's calm, soothing voice. "Shh, mommy, it's okay. I'm still here for you. I love you."

Gabriella's nose was running. She hadn't cried in so long; it felt great to relieve all of her emotions. Finally she broke away from her daughter and stood up shakily. "Thank you Eva," she whispered as she went into the kitchen to grab a tissue. She blew her nose. "I love you too."

"What did he say, mommy?" asked Eva gently as she sat on the bar stool. "What did he do that made you cry?"

She hesitated. "Eva, remember when I told you about your daddy? About how he made me play the game but I didn't want to?"

Eva nodded.

"Well, Troy was my friend in high school, and he thinks that I wanted to play the game with that boy."

"Oh," Eva said simply. And then, "But why didn't you just tell him?"

"I tried," said Gabriella softly. "But he didn't want to listen."

Eva paused. "So maybe he's not really a good friend."


	4. Chapter 3

**AN:** Lala, so I just came home from a dance, it was really boring. My feet hurt. Blahhh.

The ChronicWHATcles of Narnia! I love that song. It's from SNL, by the way.

So anyway, 4 days till my birthday! (although must of you will read this on the 13th, which will then mean 3 days)

**Title: **_Time Will Tell  
_**Rating:** _T  
_**Author: **_MadiWillow  
_**Summary: **_Gabriella is raped in senior year and falls pregnant. Without telling her friends about it, she and her mom move to Florida. Six years later, she sees an old friend... and it all goes downhill from there.  
_**Genre:** _Romance/Tragedy  
_**Chapter: **_Chapter 3_

"And so class, your homework for tonight is..." Gabriella sighed miserably as she reeled off the assignment for the fifth time that day. She hadn't been sleeping all that well since her encounter with Troy, and, for some reason, her students took notice.

"Miss Montez?" one of Gabriella's favorite students raised her hand hesitantly into the air. "Um, is something wrong?"

"What?" asked Gabriella, surprised. When she was in school, she never would have thought to ask a teacher something like that. "No, I'm fine."

The class tittered but no one said anything. A minute later the bell rang, and the class filed out slowly, talking and laughing now that the day was over. Once they left, Gabriella sat down at her desk and shuffled through the reports the class had just turned in, knowing she needed to grade them but not really wanting to.

There was a knock on her classroom door and the principal, Mr. Richards, strolled in. He was a big guy, very muscular with a bushy gray mustache. At first sight he looked more like a wrestler than a principal.

"Miss Montez," he said in greeting as he walked up to her desk.

"Hello, Mr. Richards," Gabriella stood up to shake his hand. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm good," he said, studying her intently. "But how are _you?_"

The way he put emphasis on the 'you' was suspicious to Gabriella. "Um, I'm great. Why do you ask?"

"Well, it's just come to my attention that you don't seem to be acting like yourself lately,"

"Oh? From who?"

"A couple of staff members," said Mr. Richards vaguely. "And a couple of students even came in, too."

Gabriella raised her eyebrows in surprise. She never knew anyone who'd gone to the administration when they thought a teacher was acting weird. Either she was naïve as a student or things have _really_ changed.

"Well, I'm doing good," said Gabriella. "Really. It's just been hard to sleep lately."

"Alright," said Mr. Richards, not convinced. "Well, if you need a couple days off, don't be afraid to take them."

"Oh, I don't need any time off," she assured him. "I promise. But thank you."

"Alright," repeated Mr. Richards. "Well, I'll let you get back to grading. Pleasure talking to you, Miss Montez." He waved as he retreated.

"Pleasure was all mine, Mr. Richards," replied Gabriella as he left. She sighed deeply, sat down, grabbed a red pen and started to grade.

It took her two hours to finish grading all of her classes reports. She looked up at the clock and saw that it was 5:30. Gabriella was too tired to put them in her online grade book, so she locked the papers in her drawers, grabbed her purse and left the room, locking the door behind her.

She picked up Eva at Zack's house and then proceeded back to her small house. They went into the kitchen, where Gabriella realized that she hadn't gotten the mail yet.

"Oh, shoot," She glanced at Eva, who was eating an apple and reading the comics in the newspaper. "Honey, I need to walk down and get the mail. Would you mind staying here for a couple minutes?"

"Sure, mom," answered Eva, chewing on her apple and continuing to stare at the paper.

Gabriella left the house (after locking the door behind her, of course), and, almost as soon as the door closed, the phone rang.

Eva bounded over into the living room and said, "Helloo-oo?" in a singsong voice.

"Um, hello?" said a voice on the other line.

"Hello, who may I ask is calling?"

"Is that you, Eva? Hi, it's Troy. You met me the other day. I'm your mom's friend?"

"Oh, hi," said Eva, waiting patiently.

There was a small pause. "Um... do you think I could talk to your mom for a minute?"

"I don't think she wants to talk to you," said Eva knowledgeably.

"Oh, well, I kinda expected that," muttered Troy. "Just, please, can I talk to her? Please?"

"Are you going to say sorry?"

"Well, no, I have nothing to be sorry for-,"

"Then I don't want you to talk to her," Eva told him. "You made her cry."

"I'm sorry, but-,"

"Mommy keeps having bad dreams," she informed him. "She wakes me up sometimes. I can hear her crying."

Troy was silent.

"Mommy said that you wouldn't listen to her. That doesn't sound like a good friend. My friend Zack would listen to me."

"It's kinda complicated-,"

"Did Mommy tell you about my daddy?"

"What? No. Your mommy said she doesn't know who he is."

"Did Mommy tell you that my daddy made her play the game with him?"

Pause. "What game?"

"_The_ game," whispered Eva dramatically. When Troy was still silent, Eva clicked her tongue impatiently and said, "The game that makes babies. Duh!"

"Oh." There was another short pause. "Wait, what are you talking about?"

Eva sighed, as if Troy were being dense. "Do you know what game makes babies?"

"Um, yes, I'm familiar with it..."

"Well, my mommy said that my daddy made her play it, and that she didn't want to."

Yet another silence. "Really?" he finally whispered.

"Really," said Eva triumphantly. "She said that you didn't believe her."

"Eva, I really, really need to talk to your mom-,"

"No, I don't think so," said Eva, and she hung up. The instant the put the phone down Gabriella entered the house again, flipping through the mail.

"Oh, were you on phone, sweetie?" asked Gabriella distractedly, walking into the kitchen. Eva followed her and resumed eating her apple at the table. "Who was it? Zack? Abuelita?"

"No, it was your friend, Troy,"

Gabriella looked up at her and stopped looking through the mail. "Uh, Troy? What'd he say?"

"He wanted to talk to you, but I wouldn't let him,"

"How come? You could've had him stay on the line 'till I got back."

"Well, because he made you cry and wouldn't listen to you," said Eva sympathetically. "But don't worry Mom, I told him about daddy."

Gabriella's eyes widened in horror. The mail she was holding tumbled to the ground as she stared at her daughter. "W-what?"

"I told Troy about daddy," Eva clarified. "About how he made you play the game and you didn't want to."

Gabriella stared in shock at her daughter. "Eva, I told you not to tell anyone!"

"No!" said Eva, defending herself. "You told me not to tell anyone in my class! Troy isn't in my class!"

"Oh, my God, Eva," moaned Gabriella, sitting down at the table across from her daughter. "Eva, why would you tell him!"

"I wanted him to know why were you sad," cried Eva, starting to tear up. Gabriella never yelled at her.

Gabriella sighed deeply. "Eva, you can't just tell people stuff like that, okay, honey?"

"I'm sorry!"

"Eva, don't yell at me!"

"Fine. I'm going in my room!" Eva hopped off the chair and stormed into her room.

Gabriella sighed again. She was sorry about yelling at Eva, but Eva had to understand that she couldn't just tell people everything she wanted. And she also couldn't apologize to her daughter for disciplining her.

She slowly got up from the chair and went to Eva's room. She knocked softly on the closed door and called, "Eva? What do you want for dinner?"

There was no answer.

"Do you want me to just choose something for you?"

Still no answer.

"Well, fine," snapped Gabriella. "You can go to bed hungry. No dessert!" She stomped into the kitchen, popped a leftover piece of chicken in the oven and let it cook for a couple minutes. Then she took a couple pieces of bread from a fresh loaf and ate her dinner, all while Eva stayed locked up in her room.

When she was done she flopped down onto her couch in the living room and started to watch the news. She didn't get very far, however, as there was a knock on her door.

Switching off the TV, Gabriella went to the door and called out, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Troy. Can I please come in?"

Gabriella froze. Troy was _here?_ "No," she said.

"Please? I need to talk to you."

"No, you don't."

"Gabriella, I really _want_ to talk to you."

"Well, I don't want to talk to you."

There was no answer.

"Troy?" called Gabriella through the door. Still no response. She opened the door a little and saw that he was gone. She breathed a sigh of relief.

But then she heard a thud from her living room and paused, mid-sigh. She poked her head around the door to the living room and saw Troy standing next to their window, grinning sheepishly.

"I always manage to find a way in," he joked.

Gabriella folded her arms and leaned against the doorway, not cracking a smile. Troy's grin slid slowly off his face. He cleared his throat nervously.

"So, I, uh, was on the phone with Eva a while ago,"

"I heard," she said coldly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, sounding hurt.

Gabriella hesitated. She didn't really know why she didn't tell him. "I guess I just felt ashamed, at first. I didn't want to make a big deal about it, so I tried to pretend it didn't happen."

Troy was silent. He was staring at her, trying to catch her eye, but Gabriella looked determinedly at his feet. She knew that if she caught his eye, she would spill her guts.

"But then I got pregnant... I just felt as though my world was over," she confessed. "I didn't want you guys to have to deal with it, so I begged my mom to take her position in Florida."

Troy walked closer to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Gabriella, how did it happen? When? Why?" She looked at the floor. "Gabriella, please, look at me."

She looked up into his eyes and was immediately lost. His eyes, like piercing blue oceans, had complete control over her, and he knew it.

"It was the first day of school... we were at our informational scholastic decathlon meeting, you know, for new members... I went to go to the bathroom..." Gabriella sniffed. "He came in... he was wearing a huge sweatshirt with the hood up, so I never saw who it was... he told me not to scream, because he would kill me... and you..."

She broke down and started sobbing. Just talking about it, six years later, was terribly difficult for her. Troy put his strong, protective arms around her and held her close as she wept into his chest. They stayed like that for a couple minutes before Gabriella pulled away, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered.

"No, no, it's okay," said Troy earnestly. "I'm the one who should be sorry. You know, for not listening to you."

And that's when Gabriella remembered their previous meeting. How much it hurt... she couldn't forgive him this easily.

"Um, maybe you should go," she said quietly, not looking at him and pushing him away slightly.

"What? Why?"

"Because I said so," she said, a little angrily.

Troy took a step back, surprised.

"Do you know how much you hurt me?" asked Gabriella, her voice dangerously low. "You didn't believe me. You wouldn't even hear me out. And now you think I'm going to just let that go, like that? No, it's not that easy."

"Gabriella-,"

"Get out," she said fiercely. "Get out of my house."

"But Gabriella-,"

"Why wouldn't you listen!" cried Gabriella. "Just answer me that. Why didn't you just listen?"

"Because..." Troy stuttered. "Because you hurt me when you left and didn't call me back. I was angry, and upset. So when I saw you again... it was like a miracle. But I was still angry at you, and when you were talking to me... the first thing that came to my mind was, you know, that you had cheated on me... it seemed easier to just hate you then listen to why I shouldn't be mad at you."

He looked pleadingly into her eyes. "Gabriella, I'm sorry. Please. Forgive me."

Gabriella stared back at him. She could tell he was sorry... but it just wasn't enough. She whispered, almost inaudibly, "Please. Just go."

Troy stared back at her for a moment before brushing past her. Gabriella turned and watched him leave, but he didn't look back. He opened the door, stepped outside, and slammed it behind him.

She had tears in her eyes again. They started to stream down her face again. She turned around to see Eva staring at her, a sad expression on her face too.

"Mommy, I'm sorry," she said quietly, running towards Gabriella.

Gabriella held her daughter, her pride and joy, the only reason she had to live, tightly in her arms as the two of them cried together.


	5. Chapter 4

**AN:** We meet again. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews, I got less this time, but hey, 15 reviews a chapter is preeeetty good, I must say.

So this chapter may be a little sad/happy, but the next chapter is so sad that you're gonna cry. If you cry while reading fanfiction, you will cry in the next chapter. And when you do, you're gonna be like OMFG I HATE YOU MADIWILLOW! and you'll probably murder me...

So anyway. R&R (I think that means read and review, well, we'll find out).

**Title: **_Time Will Tell  
_**Rating:** _T  
_**Author: **_MadiWillow  
_**Summary: **_Gabriella is raped in senior year and falls pregnant. Without telling her friends about it, she and her mom move to Florida. Six years later, she sees an old friend... and it all goes downhill from there.  
_**Genre:** _Romance/Tragedy  
_**Chapter: **_Chapter 4_

About a week later, Gabriella was in the middle of a lecture during her 4th period class, right before lunch. She was only half into what she was saying, while the other half was thinking about what her mind had been constantly stuck on – Troy.

Troy, Troy, Troy. She couldn't stop thinking of him. Part of her wished she'd just forgiven him, accepted his apology, and moved on. They could've been friends. Or better – they could've picked up where they left off. But she just _couldn't_ forgive Troy. Even though she knew he was sorry, it just didn't seem like enough. The one person she thought she could trust with her life had let her down, and a simple "I'm sorry" was not enough to regain that trust.

"Alright, now, you guys," Gabriella looked up at the clock. "We have about 20 minutes left before the bell, so that's plenty of time to start your homework. If you happen to finish before class is over, you can turn it in for five points extra credit."

The door to the room opened and Gabriella looked up, expecting to see a teacher or a Student Helper with a pass. But what she _did_ see caused her breath to catch in her throat.

_Troy._

"Hi, Gabriella," said Troy breathlessly at the back of the room. All of her students whipped around to face him. A couple girls giggled.

Gabriella could see why. He looked so good, like always. And he did it without even meaning to. His jeans were wrinkled, his blue sweater had a couple of food stains, and his hair was messy. But he still looked as handsome as ever, and Gabriella couldn't keep her stomach from jumping excitedly at the sight of him.

"Um, excuse me, _Mr. Bolton,_" she put emphasis on the last words, hoping to give him a clue to not call her Gabriella in front of her class. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, well, Miss Montez," he winked at her, causing her to roll her eyes. "I need to talk to you."

Gabriella was starting to wonder if he had any other words in his vocabulary.

"I'm sorry, I'm in the middle of teaching a class," she said, turning back to her students.

"Gab-Miss Montez," said Troy urgently. "I really, really need to talk to you."

"_No, _Troy," hissed Gabriella.

"If you won't come with me, I'll just say it here," he took a breath. "Gabriella, I'm sorry I didn't believe you about-,"

"Troy!" Gabriella yelled, striding over to him. "I'll be right back, class," she said stiffly before grabbing Troy's wrist and dragging him out of the room. Once they were in the hallway, she pushed him against the wall and hissed angrily, "What is _wrong_ with you?"

Troy grinned a little. "I wasn't going to actually tell them. I knew you'd stop me."

Gabriella rolled her eyes at his game. "So, what do you want?" She put her hands on her hips impatiently.

"Gabriella, you have to forgive me," said Troy quickly. "I love you, okay? I still love you, even though I'm still mad as hell at you for not communicating with me after you moved. But I love you, and I want to be with you."

She stared, dumbstruck, at him. He still loved her?

"I-I don't know, Troy," she said quietly. "I want to forgive you, but... I just can't."

"Why not?"

"You just hurt me too much!" she cried. She blinked a couple times; she would not cry again, she wouldn't. "I can't accept that. I need time. Maybe, soon... I can."

Troy nodded. "Okay, I can deal with that. Can I take you out to lunch somewhere?"

Gabriella grinned at him. "Sure. Lunch is in about fifteen minutes. You can sit in the back of my class and wait."

"Alright,"

They entered the class again to find the students talking to one another. "Hey, what about that homework? Extra credit, remember? I know some of you that need it." She smirked. The class looked over at Troy. Miss Montez had changed back into her normal self – what had he done?

Gabriella's cell phone started to ring. She quickly rushed over to it as the class chorused, "Oooooh, no cell phones!" She was going to turn it off, but after she saw the Caller ID, she answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Miss Montez?"

"Yes?"

"I'm Dr. Smethwick of Albuquerque General," said a deep voice on the other line. "I need you to come down right away."

"Why, is something wrong?" she asked. She glanced over at Troy, who was still standing in the back of the class, looking at her inquiringly.

"Well, yes," said the doctor. "You should come down-,"

"No, no, tell me now! What's wrong?"

The doctor sighed in defeat. "There was a shooting at East Elementary-,"

"A shooting? Oh, my God!" breathed Gabriella, sitting down heavily on her chair. "Is Eva hurt?"

"Well... yes. The intensity of her injuries have not yet been determined, but she's about to be wheeled into surgery."

"Why? What happened?" moaned Gabriella. Troy strode forward to the front of the class and stood behind her, his hand comfortingly on her shoulder.

"She was shot once in the arm, and once in the head,"

"No!" screamed Gabriella, breaking down. She started to sob while her 4th period Physics students stared. Troy bent down and hugged her. She regained control of herself enough to stutter, "Is-is she g-gonna be al-alright?"

"We don't know," said the doctor sympathetically. "Please, come down as soon as possible."

"Okay, I'll be right there." She hung up the phone with shaking fingers.

"Gabriella? What happened?" asked Troy cautiously.

Hoping this scene wouldn't undermine her as an authority figure, Gabriella answered him, trembling. "There was a sh-shooting at Eva's school. She's-she's been... shot..." She paused to take a steadying breath. "They need me to get down there now, but..." she looked at the class. "I'm not allowed to leave a classroom unattended."

"Don't worry, I'll stay here," Troy assured her.

"But you're not a licensed teacher..."

Troy glanced around and his eyes landed on the classroom phone. "Does that call the office?" he asked, pointing.

Gabriella nodded. "Just dial 9."

"Okay, so you go, I'll call the office and tell them we need a sub or something. I'll stay until they sent someone over." Gabriella was still hesitant, so he added, "Come on, Eva needs you."

Gabriella's eyes were shining with tears. She stood up, grabbed her bag, and said, "Thanks Troy," before kissing him on the cheek and leaving.

Troy had a goofy smile on his face after the kiss, and turned around so the class wouldn't see it. He picked up the phone, dialed 9, and waited.

"Mrs. Standon speaking," said a curt voice on the line.

"Um, hello? This is Miss Montez's room."

"Yes?"

"Well, Miss Montez had to leave campus because of an emergency," he explained awkwardly. "I'm staying in the class for her, but I'm not a teacher so..."

"An emergency?"

"Yes, her daughter was shot,"

There was a pause before she said, "We don't have any free subs, but we'll send a counselor down in a few minutes. _Do not_ leave the class."

"Okay, thanks." Troy hung up and turned back around to face the class. All the students were staring at him.

"Um... didn't Miss Montez say something about homework?"

"We don't have to do it yet. It's due tomorrow," said a voice at the back of the class.

"Oh... okay," Troy sat down in Gabriella's vacated seat. He drummed his fingers on the desk.

"What were you talking to Miss Montez about?" a girl in the front asked.

Troy raised his eyebrows. "That's kinda private."

"Well, whatever you talked to her about made her happy," the girl said. "She's been upset for a couple weeks."

"Oh..."

The next few minutes of the class was spent in silence until a man in tan slacks and a blue button-down shirt entered the class.

"Hello, I'm Mr. Brittain," he introduced himself as he reached Troy, holding out his hand. Troy stood up and shook it. "I'm a counselor here – they sent me down because Miss Montez had to leave for some reason?"

"Um, yes... there was a shooting at her daughter's school and she's in the hospital," explained Troy.

"Oh, good Lord," breathed the teacher. "And who are you?"

"I'm Troy Bolton," he answered. "I'm her friend. I came here to take her out to lunch when she got the call."

"I see," he nodded. "Well, thanks for taking the class. You can go now."

"It was nothing," Troy said before he left. As soon as he was out of the class he started to sprint toward his car. Once he reached it, he sped down to the hospital. There was no way he was going to let Gabriella face this alone. Even though she hadn't forgiven him yet, he was going to help her get through this, like a friend.

He parked his car when he got there and practically ran to the front office. He asked the receptionist, panting slightly, "Where is Eva Montez?"

The receptionist pressed a few keys on her computer and answered, "Eva Montez is in surgery right now. You can't see her until she's out."

"No, but I need to see her mother-,"

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait," she repeated.

Troy swore in frustration and sat down in the nearest chair. He'd just wait, that's all. Gabriella had to come out sooner or later.

He sat, bored, for a few minutes before his phone started to ring – loudly. A couple people looked over at him, glaring. "Sorry," he muttered as he left the waiting room to answer his phone. "Hello?" he said, standing next to the hospitals entrance.

"Dude! Hey! Thanks for calling!" said a sarcastic voice. "I thought you were pulling a you-know-who on us."

"Oh, hey, Chad," said Troy. In all this worry and thought about Gabriella, he'd completely forgotten to call his friends, who lived up in Monte Vista, which is where they'd all lived before Troy decided to move back to Albuquerque. He hoped that eventually his friends would come too. "Um, about Gabriella-,"

"Whoa, dude, you said her name!" exclaimed Chad. "You haven't said it in years!"

"Yeah... look, I think we need to not be mad at Gabriella anymore," said Troy.

There was a silence. "Why? Gabriella was a bitch for not calling us-,"

"Chad, stop," growled Troy, even though he'd been saying the same thing just a month earlier. "Gabriella lives here too and I know why she didn't call us."

"Really? Why?"

Troy paused. "I-I don't know if I can tell you."

"Dude, come on! It can't be that bad!"

"Look, I can't tell you," said Troy firmly. "I'll ask Gabriella when I see her if I can. She might wanna tell you herself."

"I don't know if I'll listen,"

"No, you better listen," said Troy with more fierceness than Chad had ever heard him speak with in a long time. "If you don't listen to _everything_ she has to say, she'll never forgive you. And trust me, once you know what it is, you'll never forgive yourself."

"Whatever you say, man," said Chad skeptically.

"And don't tell anyone else I ran into her, okay? Just keep it to yourself for now."

"Alright, whatever,"

"See ya later,"

"Bye,"

Troy hung up and went back into the lobby, only to find that Gabriella was entering it from the other side. Her eyes were red and teary.

"Gabriella!" said Troy throwing his arms around her. "Is Eva okay?"

Gabriella shrugged, her body pressed up against his. "She's still in surgery... I came out here to call you... what are you doing here?"

"I came to see help you through this," said Troy, trying to sound supportive.

Gabriella smiled weakly. "Thanks." She sniffed.

Troy led her back into the waiting room and they sat down. "So... I was just on the phone with Chad."

She looked at him sharply through her tears. "You didn't tell him, did you?"

"No! I mean, I told him I ran into you, but not about... you know," he mumbled uncomfortably. "I just told him that I knew why you hadn't called us and that if you decide to tell him, he'd better listen."

Gabriella laughed a little. "Yeah... but I just don't know if I can tell anyone else."

Troy was silent. "Do... do you want me to tell him?"

"No, I don't wanna make you do that," said Gabriella quickly.

"But I don't wanna make you relive it again," said Troy. "You're too emotionally drained, worrying about it, and now Eva-," Gabriella let out a sob "-I'll do it."

"Are you sure?" she whispered.

Troy nodded. "I'll call him back now, if you'd like."

Gabriella shook her head. "Wait 'till I'm gone."

Troy nodded again. He put his arms around her and held her close to him. She clung to him as if her life depended on it, and they stayed that way, holding each other, for a long, long time.

Finally, a doctor came over to them and said, "Miss Montez?"

Gabriella looked up and untangled herself from Troy. "Yes?" The two of them stood up quickly.

"I'm Dr. Smethwick, I spoke to you earlier?"

Gabriella nodded. "Is Eva going to be okay?"

The doctor nodded. "Yes. We're think so, anyway."

Gabriella sighed in relief and sat back down in her chair. Her hands covered her eyes, and she was shaking with happy tears. Troy sat down next to her and rubbed her back.

"There will be some after effects," said the doctor.

Gabriella wiped her eyes and looked up at the doctor. "Like what?"

"Well, she's going to have a sling for her right arm," the doctor explained. "And she may have to re-learn how to walk."

"Walking? She can't walk?" breathed Gabriella, standing up.

The doctor shook his head. "We don't think so. She hasn't woken up yet, but it the bullet that penetrated her skull pierced part of her brain."

"Is there anything else she forgot?"

"Well, she may have to take kindergarten again," said the doctor. "She probably forgot a lot of things. But if she's a quick learner, it might be possible for you to help her re-learn them. As for memory and things like eating and drinking, she should be fine."

Gabriella sighed in relief again. "Thank you so, so much," said Gabriella, standing up shaking the doctor's hand.

"You're very welcome," he smiled warmly. "Would you like to see her?" he asked. Then, glancing at Troy, he added regretfully, "I'm sorry, but only one visitor at a time."

"Oh, no, it's alright," said Troy.

The doctor led Gabriella away. Once Troy was sure she was gone, he took out his phone and called Chad.

"Hey man!" said Chad. "That didn't take long."

"Gabriella told me I can tell you," said Troy. "She said she couldn't do it."

"What, is she a coward?" asked Chad nastily. "Is she too afraid to face us?"

"Chad, shut up!" yelled Troy. He glanced around the lobby again, where he was getting more glares, and took his conversation outside. "You wanna know why she left? Because she was _raped._"

There was a very long silence on the other end, so long that Troy they'd lost their connection.

"Chad, are you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here," said Chad, his voice quiet. "She was... was raped? Why didn't she tell anyone?"

"She said it hurt too much," explained Troy. He hated having to do this. "She felt ashamed, so she wanted to pretend like it hadn't happened."

"Then why'd she move?"

"Because... she got pregnant,"

"..._What?_"

"Yeah," said Troy sadly. "She begged her mom to have them move away. She didn't want everyone to find out. And she was too ashamed to talk to us. At least that's what she said."

"Wow... I had no idea. I feel terrible."

Troy laughed bitterly. "Well, at least you didn't say those things to her. She tried to tell me about Eva – her daughter – but I just assumed she'd cheated on me. I was awful. I had to hear about it from her daughter."

"Geez," muttered Chad. "So her daughter is... five?"

"Yeah, she's in kindergarten," Troy sighed. He figured he might as well tell him about where he was too. "Speaking of which... I'm in the hospital right now."

"Why?"

"Well I was trying to get Gabriella to forgive me – which she won't because she says she needs time, and I completely understand – when she got a phone call. There was a shooting at her daughter's school."

"Oh no," groaned Chad. "Let me guess. Her daughter got shot?"

"Uh-huh," said Troy. Now that he was voicing everything about Gabriella, he realized how much she'd been through. She was so strong to still be standing. He didn't know he he'd be able to do that. "They think she's going to be okay, though."

Chad whistled. "Jesus,"

"Do you think you could tell everyone else about what happened to Gabriella?" asked Troy, hoping Chad would be up to the challenge. "I don't want them to be angry at her anymore. I can't bear that we said things about her."

"Oh yeah, don't worry," said Chad earnestly. "I'll tell them. Actually, they're coming over to our place tonight, so I'll tell them then."

"Alright, thanks man," said Troy. He looked over and saw Gabriella coming back into the waiting room. "I gotta go."

"Okay, see ya," said Chad. "You'll probably get lots of calls later from everyone, wanting to talk to Gabriella."

Troy laughed. "Bye."

"Bye,"


	6. Chapter 5

**AN:** One of you asked why someone would shoot at an elementary school, and I had a story for that but I never got it worked into the story. So I'll just say it here. It's not a very creative thing, just that some angry kid had a gun and went to the school and started shooting. That's all.

Get the tissues! You know, I was afraid that some of you would guess what was gonna happen, because I feel as if I've been giving so much away. But so far no one has guessed the right thing, and I'm glad. I love keeping readers in suspense. However, once you read this, you're gonna be like "duh, how obvious was that."

Okay so I'm posting this right before school and I'm usually I proofread my chapters right before posting them but I don't have time. I mean, I have re-read this about 10 times, so hopefully I caught all the mistakes already.

**Title: **_Time Will Tell  
_**Rating:** _T  
_**Author: **_MadiWillow  
_**Summary: **_Gabriella is raped in senior year and falls pregnant. Without telling her friends about it, she and her mom move to Florida. Six years later, she sees an old friend... and it all goes downhill from there.  
_**Genre:** _Romance/Tragedy  
_**Chapter: **_Chapter 5_

Troy went back inside the lobby, as Gabriella had been looking around for him. When her eyes found his, she smiled slightly and walked over to him. "Hey."

"Already done?"

Gabriella nodded sadly. "Yeah... she's not awake. The doctor's won't let me stay overnight with her, so I think I'm gonna leave and come back later." She sighed. "I hate living so far away from the hospital..."

Troy cleared his throat nervously. "Uh, well, I live just two blocks away from here, if you'd wanna stay over or something..."

Her face brightened instantly. It looked strange with her red eyes and puffy cheeks, but Troy still thought she looked beautiful. "Really? You would do that for me?"

"Yeah! No problem."

"Thanks!" Gabriella threw her arms around him and hugged him for a long time. Then she broke away and said, "We'll have to go back to my place for clothes and stuff..."

"Alright. Do you need me to come with you?"

"Well, yeah, I don't know where you live," she laughed.

"Right," he grinned.

Troy and Gabriella got into their respective cars and drove to Gabriella's house. She went in quickly and came out with just one suitcase. Then they drove to Troy's house across town, which was two blocks away from Albuquerque General.

Troy felt slightly abashed by his house, since it was so much bigger than Gabriella's and Eva's. They deserved his three-bedroom, three-bathroom house much more than he did.

But if Gabriella was jealous, she didn't show it. She just said, "Wow, your house is gorgeous!" after they parked and got out.

"Thanks," he muttered sheepishly before letting her into the house. "You can sleep in the guest bedroom, which is right down the hall."

"Where's your room?" asked Gabriella, looking around.

"Right next to yours,"

"Good," smiled Gabriella. Troy felt himself blush, which was very unlike him. Gabriella didn't notice, as she had already started walking through the house. "Which room?"

"The one right next to you,"

"Oh," she opened the door and gasped. "Wow, it's beautiful," she murmured. She disappeared into the room. "Yay, and there's an adjoining bathroom!"

Troy laughed.

She came out of the room a little later, looking red around the eyes again. "I don't know what I'll do if I lose her..."

Troy strode over to her and wrapped his arms around her. She sighed and melted into him, their bodies blending together so well. "You won't lose her," said Troy confidently. "You won't."

Gabriella sighed again. "I hope so."

That night, Troy couldn't sleep. He was too wrapped up in his thoughts about Gabriella.

He loved her; he was sure of that. It hurt him so much to know all the pain she'd been through, and that he hadn't been there to help her through it. He should've known what had happened; he should've guessed that something was wrong that first month of school. How did he not notice anything?

He sighed deeply and got out of bed. Walking blindly to the living room, he figured he'd watch a little TV before he tried to go to sleep. Troy went to sit down on the couch and came down on something hard.

"Aaaah!" came a scream from under him. Troy jumped up, as if he'd sat on fire, and whirled around. Gabriella had been lying on the couch under a blanket that was almost the exact same dark brown color of the couch.

"Oh my God!" exclaimed Troy. Gabriella was sitting up, breathing heavily. "I'm so sorry, Gabriella – I came to watch TV because I couldn't sleep-,"

"No, no, it's okay," said Gabriella weakly. "I couldn't really sleep either, so I came out here... I'm sorry-,"

"No, I'm sorry-," Troy stopped and laughed. "Look at us, tripping over ourselves to apologize. How about this? I'm not sorry, and you're not sorry. Deal?"

Gabriella giggled slightly. "Deal." She scooted over and patted the space next to her. "Wanna sit with me?"

Troy grinned. "Sure." He sat down next to her and she immediately leaned against his chest. She threw some of the blanket around him and they lay there for a long time, waiting for sleep to find them.

But it didn't. After about a half an hour of them just holding each other, Gabriella's phone rang from the coffee table.

Gabriella gasped and threw herself forward. She picked up the phone and looked at the caller ID.

"Who'd be calling you this late?" asked Troy groggily, checking the clock on the DVD player. It was one thirty.

"The hospital," whispered Gabriella. She pressed the Call button and put the phone to her ear. "H-hello?" There a pause, then, "Yes?"

Troy watched Gabriella's face, hoping for some sign on why they were calling her, but it was blank; emotionless.

Gabriella was silent for a long, long time. Then she said softly, "Oh my God."

Troy put a comforting hand on her shoulder and squeezed it, trying to soothe her.

"Oh my God!" she screamed, and then started bawling. "Yes, I'll be right there!" She hung up the phone and sobbed into her arms.

Troy put his arms around her, and Gabriella was thankful that he wasn't one of those people that were always like "What is it? What happened?"

Suddenly, she jumped up the couch and said urgently, "Troy, we have to go to the hospital! Now!"

He didn't ask questions. Troy just ran into her room, grabbed a pair of shoes and a jacket for her and then a pair of shoes and jacket for himself. He handed them to her, grabbed his cell phone and keys and led Gabriella out the door.

She sobbed in the passenger seat all the way to the hospital as she explained to him what happened. "Th-they said something was wrong. That they'd f-found something th-that they h-hadn't noticed be-before," she wailed. "They don't know if she's g-going to make it!"

"Of course she'll make it," said Troy firmly, even though he wasn't too sure himself.

They reached the hospital in record time and ran into the lobby.

"Hello, we need to see Eva Montez?" asked Gabriella breathlessly, tears still streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry, but Miss Montez is not accepting any visitors," said the grumpy receptionist.

"Look, you better let me see my daughter or I _swear_ I will-," Gabriella started to scream, but then a voice to their right spoke.

"Miss Montez?"

Gabriella spun around and came face-to-face with a woman who had bright red hair that was tied up into a bun. "Yes, are you the one who called?"

"Yes, I'm Dr. Schector," said the woman. "Come with me, your daughter is over here."

She led Troy and Gabriella through a big pair of double doors and down a few hallways. Troy felt his skin crawl as they passed patients in the emergency room. He'd always hated hospitals.

They stopped in front a huge blue door but didn't go in. Dr. Schector turned around and said, "Miss Montez, something has happened-,"

"What is it? Just tell me!" she screeched. "Is my daughter going to be okay?"

Dr. Schector paused, and then said, "I'm so sorry, Miss Montez."

Troy felt his stomach disappear, and said hoarsely, "What do you mean?"

Dr. Schector sighed. "It turns out there Eva had another hole in her skull that went unnoticed by the other doctors during surgery. The hole was causing the brain to lose oxygen. By the time we discovered it... it was too late."

"No!" screamed Gabriella, crumpling to the ground. Troy bent down and embraced her as she wept. "No, it can't be true! You can save her! I can't lose her!"

"I'm so, so sorry, Miss Montez," said Dr. Schector quietly, a tear rolling down her cheek. She cleared her throat, brushed it away, and said, "Eva is in here. She's awake, and I think it would be good for both of you to see her before she..." The doctor broke off.

Gabriella leapt up and ran through the door without a backwards glance.

She scanned the room and quickly found Eva lying in a bed on the far wall. Her eyes were closed, and Gabriella's heart froze, but as she got closer she saw her chest moving up and down, slowly.

Eva was a mess. She had an IV in each of her wrists, a huge bandage around her right arm, a bandage around her head, and a tube up her nose. Gabriella felt her heart break just looking at her.

"Eva?" she asked quietly.

Eva's eyes flew open. Her brown eyes were filled with pain and fright, but when they found Gabriella's, they seemed to relax. "Hi, mommy."

"Ooh, look at you," whispered Gabriella, tears streaming down her face. She put her hand to her daughter's cheek; it was ice cold. "You're freezing."

"Mommy, I'm sorry," said Eva quietly.

"What?" asked Gabriella. "Honey, you have nothing to be sorry about."

Eva nodded, tears filling her eyes.

"I'm sorry for making you cry,"

"Oh, sweetie," Gabriella leaned forward and kissed the top of her head. "It's because I love you."

"But I hate it when you cry," said Eva sadly. "You've been crying a lot. It makes me wanna cry too..."

Gabriella smiled weakly. She forced herself to stop crying; at least not while she was still with Eva. She would not let her daughter leave this world crying. "I'm sorry."

"Mommy, are you gonna be happy?"

She blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"When I go? Will you still be happy?"

"You're not going anywhere,"

Eva nodded. "Mommy, I heard the doctor's talking. They said they're losing me."

"Honey..."

"Mommy, I don't want you to be sad,"

Gabriella paused. "Well, Eva, of course I'm going to be sad-,"

"But I don't want you to. I want you to be happy,"

"Eva, I love you. I can't be happy if you're not with me," Gabriella tried to explain.

"But you have Troy,"

When Gabriella ran into the room, she left Troy and Dr. Schector outside, standing awkwardly.

"Are you family?" the doctor asked.

"Well, I'm really good friends with Gabriella,"

The doctor nodded understandingly. "I'm terribly sorry."

Troy took a deep, shaky breath and nodded. He didn't know Eva, but he felt like crying. He couldn't imagine that Gabriella had to go through all of this.

The doctor then walked away slowly, without saying anything, and a few seconds later Troy's phone started to vibrate in his pocket.

Wondering who on earth would be calling him now, Troy looked around for any doctors or nurses – not wanting to get yelled at – and answered his phone.

"Troy?" came Sharpay's voice. "Oh my God, I hope I didn't wake you!"

"No, no, you didn't," said Troy quietly. "Sharpay, why are you calling?"

"Chad told us about Gabriella," said Sharpay, her voice shaking. "I can't believe it... I couldn't sleep, it was all I was thinking about-,"

"I know," said Troy. "But Sharpay, I need to go-,"

"Where are you?" she demanded. "Why are you whispering? Do you have company?" Then Sharpay gasped excitedly. "Is _Gabriella_ over? Aww, you guys-,"

"No, Sharpay," hissed Troy. "Did Chad tell you what happened to Gabriella's daughter?"

"No..."

"She was shot. I'm here at the hospital with Gabriella."

Sharpay gasped again, but this time in horror. "She was-,"

The doors opened and Gabriella reappeared, her eyes red and her face screwed up, as if trying not to cry. She beckoned Troy inside and whispered shakily, "She wants to s-say good-bye to you."

"I gotta go Sharpay," said Troy. He hung up the phone and turned it off while following Gabriella inside the room.

It was very dimly lit, with the only light coming from a lamp above Eva's head. Troy heart seemed to explode when he saw her. He was hurting so much – he could barely imagine Gabriella's feelings. He didn't know how she was still standing upright.

"Hi, Troy," said Eva softly. Her voice was filled with pain.

"Hey, Eva," said Troy quietly, leaning forward to kiss the top of her head. "How are you holding up?"

Eva shrugged. "Pretty good for my condition, I guess."

Troy glanced at Gabriella. Despite the situation, he couldn't help but marvel at Eva's intelligence and maturity. _But then again, look at her mother._

"Troy, I wanted to tell you to stay with mommy," said Eva wisely. "My mommy needs someone to love."

Troy and Gabriella looked at each other.

"I think you can make my mom happy,"

"Eva-,"

"Please? For me?"

Troy looked deep into Eva's eyes and saw pleading.

"I don't like it when my mommy is sad. Or when she cries."

Gabriella sank to the floor, hiding her face in her arms. She was shaking from silent sobs, as though trying to hide them from Eva.

"Of course," said Troy, looking Eva in the eye.

Eva smiled weakly and let out a breath. She leaned back onto her pillow and closed her eyes.

"Eva?" Gabriella stood up on her knees. "Eva, no, please!" she sobbed. "Don't go!"

"I'm sorry mom," said Eva softly, her eyes still closed. "Don't cry..."

"Eva, don't be sorry!" Gabriella cried, tears flowing from her eyes as if they were waterfalls. "Just don't leave me – I love you, Eva!"

"I love you, too, mommy..." said Eva, so quietly it was almost inaudible.

There was a long _beeeeeeeeeeep_ from the machine next to Eva. Troy looked at it and saw a straight line running across the screen, with a 0 by it.

Gabriella sobbed and gripped her daughter's hand, screaming, "Eva! No! Please come back! Eva, I love you! Don't leave me!"

Troy gently pulled Gabriella into her arms and let him sob into his chest as they fell to the ground together. Troy leaned his head back against the bed and felt tears drip down his nose onto Gabriella's head. She was crying harder than he'd ever seen anyone cry in his life. It didn't seem as if she'd ever stop. She was coughing and sputtering and sniffing into Troy.

A few nurses ran in, drawn from the beeping sound, and made Gabriella and Troy get up.

"Where are you taking her?" yelled Gabriella, still in Troy's arms as they backed away.

"We're going to take her body to the morgue," said a nurse sadly. "We have a room to keep her body before we send her there in the morning."

"No, please, not yet!" screamed Gabriella hysterically. "Not my baby – she's not gone yet!"

The nurses slowly removed the wires and tubes from Eva so they could wheel her out.

"Troy, make them stop!" Gabriella cried. "She's not gone yet! Don't let them take her there!"

Troy's throat was tight. He didn't know if he could speak, but he had to. "I'm sorry, Gabriella – but she's gone."

"No!" she shrieked, collapsing onto him so that they both crashed into the floor. Two nurses wheeled the body out while the third turned off all the machines.

Gabriella started to thrash wildly against Troy. "No! She's not dead!" she gasped hysterically, twisting and flailing left and right. "I won't let them take her there – Troy, stop them-,"

"Gabriella," said Troy firmly, tears leaking out of his eyes. He rolled on top of her and held her under him as she continued to squirm. "Gabriella, you're in shock," his voice squeaked from his tight throat. "Please, Gabriella, calm down."

"My baby's dead!" said Gabriella wildly, obviously not taking in a word from Troy. "She's gone, Troy!"

"I know, Gabriella!" Troy let out an involuntary sob, which, above everything, caused Gabriella to stop thrashing. "Gabriella – you have to stay strong. Eva didn't want this to happen to you."

Gabriella stayed still, breathing heavily. It seemed as though she had cried every tear. She just sat under him, hiccuping.

Troy, breathing heavily from trying to restrain Gabriella, slowly got off of her and helped her up. He led her out of the room slowly. Her face was blank, and it almost seemed as if what was happening had finally hit her, and her grief was now beyond tears.

They were met on the way out by Dr. Schector. "They're taking Eva's body to the morgue tomorrow morning. We have a bunch being sent over." She looked at Gabriella sympathetically. "I'm terribly sorry for your loss. We did everything we could."

Gabriella didn't say or do anything. Troy wasn't even sure if she was aware of Dr. Schector in front of them. Troy thanked her and led her out to his car.

As they drove home, he kept glancing at Gabriella, afraid she was going to explode and start crying again.

Troy led her into his house when they got there a few minutes later, and once they were in the house, Gabriella threw herself against the wall so hard that a picture of Troy's parents came crashing down to the ground, shattering.

"Gabriella!"

She was sobbing again, but not the hysterical, insane cries from before. It seemed as though she knew what was going on now, and was aware of her surroundings. She cried against the wall, slowly sliding down until she was sprawled next to the smashed picture of Mr. and Mrs. Bolton. "I'm sorry Troy..." she cried softly. She sniffed loudly and then wailed, "Eva's gone! Troy... why..."

"I don't know why," said Troy quietly as the tears began to spill from his own eyes. He leaned down next to her and stroked her hair.

Gabriella took a deep breath, trying to get control of her emotions.

"Gabriella... I think maybe you should call you mom,"

She nodded, her eyes still watery, and put her hands on the ground to help herself up. But, in her grief, she forgot about the shards of glass littering the ground from the broken picture frame, and her hands both got slashed.

She didn't wince, cringe, or even cry out. She just held up her hands and watched the blood seep down her palms and onto her arms.

Troy, on the other hand, had leapt up, ran into the kitchen, reached into the back of a cabinet to pull out a first-aid kit – which was there thanks to his mother's nagging – and streaked back to Gabriella.

He took out a long roll of bandages and wrapped up her hands, being gentle but firm. Gabriella just stared at her hands the whole time, her face oddly expressionless.

As Troy led her into the living room to sit on the couch, Gabriella turned to him and said, "It didn't hurt, Troy. Why didn't it hurt?" Her voice seemed void of emotion.

"Well," said Troy uncomfortably. He didn't like this side of his old friend. "Probably because you've taken such an emotional blow so recently."

Gabriella nodded blankly.

"Um, here," Troy handed her his home phone. "Are you gonna call your mom?"

She nodded miserably. Taking the phone from him, she slowly dialed her moms number. Gabriella put the phone to her ear and listened to it ring five times before her mother finally answered it. "Hello?" she asked sleepily.

"Hi, mami," said Gabriella quietly. "It's Gabi."

"Gabi?" asked her mom tiredly, as if not quite understanding. "What are you doing calling this early? It's four thirty a.m." Her mom paused. "Which means it about two thirty a.m. there. Sweetie, what's going on?"

"Mom," said Gabriella tearfully. "Eva's gone."

"Gone?" repeated Miss Montez, perplexed. "What do you mean, gone? Did she run away?"

"She's..." she paused as tears started rolling down her cheeks. And here Troy had thought she was all cried out. "She's dead."

There was a long silence. "_What?_"

"She's dead, mom!" said Gabriella, suddenly sobbing again. "There was a shooting at her school today, and they couldn't save her! Mom, she's dead! My daughter is gone!"


	7. Chapter 6

**AN:** It's my birthday, lalalalala. :) So I'm sorry you all hated the last chapter, and I'm also sorry to reassure you that NO! It was not a dream. :( As I said to someone else, I had to kill of Eva to keep the story going. I wrote the story up until when she got hurt (when I wasn't planning to kill her off), and got the huge attack of writer's block imaginable. And after an episode of Desperate Housewives, I realized that I had to kill of Eva in order for the story to progress the way I wanted it too.

In case you haven't noticed in my stories, they're all Gabriella-tragic stories. In this one, she gets raped and loses her daughter, and in WSB, she gets hit by a car. Well, I would like to assure you that in my up-coming HSM fic, _The Light of Love_ (title is a work in progress), it will also be a Gabriella-tragic story. So don't forget to check that one out when I post it!

**Title: **_Time Will Tell  
_**Rating:** _T  
_**Author: **_MadiWillow  
_**Summary: **_Gabriella is raped in senior year and falls pregnant. Without telling her friends about it, she and her mom move to Florida. Six years later, she sees an old friend... and it all goes downhill from there.  
_**Genre:** _Romance/Tragedy  
_**Chapter: **_Chapter 6_

After the phone conversation with her mother, Gabriella had had two requests for Troy: if she could stay over longer and if he would call their friends and invite them to the funeral. Troy had, of course, said yes to both things and after that, Gabriella went into a withdrawal.

She barely came out of her room. The only times she did were for a little food or to use the bathroom. She wasn't showering or changing her clothes, and she was barely eating. Troy was worried.

But her mother, Maria, arrived the afternoon of Eva's death and Troy had volunteered his house to her too. She'd gone it to check on Gabriella and had stayed in her room for over two hours. When she'd come back out, she'd promised Troy that Gabriella was going to get through it.

While Maria had been in with Gabriella, Troy had called Taylor. She'd been happy to hear from him and wanted to talk to Gabriella, to apologize and talk to her. But Troy had told her that that was out of the question, and told her all about Eva.

Taylor had dissolved into tears on the other line, and Troy had sat there, listening to her cry for about five minutes, before Chad came onto the line and he told him too.

"Dude..." breathed Chad weakly. "You can't make me tell everybody else about this too... you just can't..."

"Don't worry," said Troy, although he'd hoped that Chad would. He wasn't so eager to tell five more people about this, but he'd had Chad tell them about the rape, so he owed to it him. "I'll call them."

Sharpay and Kelsi had had the same reaction; they'd both sobbed endlessly until they're respective fiancées had tore the phone away and Troy had told them. Ryan, who was newly single, Zeke, and Jason didn't cry, but had been choked up. All of them promised to come down as soon as possible.

While Maria had been in Gabriella's room with her, Gabriella had asked her mother and him to plan the funeral, which was to take place that Saturday. So that's where Troy and Maria were; in Troy's kitchen, planning the funeral of a five-year-old girl.

"What song should we play?" Troy asked Maria. "Is there a song that Eva really liked that we could use?"

Maria thought for a moment. "Actually, yes. Do you still have the sound track from the musical you and Gabi were in?"

"Yeah," said Troy immediately. "Uh, why?"

"Well, when Gabi was in college and I had to help take care of... Eva..." Maria took a deep breath to control herself. Troy had yet to see her cry over Eva, although she was probably doing that to stay strong for Gabriella. "To calm Eva down as a baby, we would always play that CD for her. We played it before we put her down for a nap, when she was fussing, just all the time. Some of her first words were words from the songs."

"Really?"

Maria nodded. "Especially the duet, What I've Been Looking For."

"Should we play that, then?"

She nodded again.

On Friday, Chad, Taylor, Zeke, Jason, Sharpay, Kelsi, and Ryan all came over to see Gabriella for the first time in six years, but she'd locked herself in and Troy and Maria couldn't get her out. So the seven friends left, deciding that it would be fine to just see Gabriella the next day at the funeral.

Saturday morning rolled around and Troy almost felt like he couldn't get out of bed. How much had his life changed since he met Gabriella? Well, for one, he realized he was still in love. He loved Gabriella, and it broke his heart to see her in this situation. She'd been through so much, and she was only twenty-three years old. He hadn't been through _half_ of the stuff she'd been through.

He slowly got up and dressed himself in black dress pants and a long-sleeved black button-down shirt. He wore a black tie and black dress shoes and then peered into Maria's room. As he'd expected, she'd already left for the church to help get ready.

Troy knocked softly on Gabriella's door. There was no answer. He knocked again. "Gabriella, come on. We have to go to the funeral."

The door flew open and Troy was attacked by a mob of black. Gabriella fell into him, her arms around him, and sobbed. Troy patted her on the back sweetly and led her back into her room. They sat on the edge of the bed while she cried.

"Troy..." she wept, pulling away from him. Her mascara hadn't run (she'd probably worn water-proof just for the occasion) but her cheeks and eyes were red. She'd probably spent the whole night crying.

She seemed to be dressed like death itself. She was wearing a black suit, a black headband in her greasy, pulled-back hair, black tights, black pumps, and pearls around her neck and in her ears.

"Gabriella, it's okay," whispered Troy. "It's going to be okay..."

"No!" cried Gabriella. "No, nothing is ever gonna be okay again! Never! I shouldn't be here!"

"What do you mean?"

"A mother should _never_ have to bury her child," sobbed Gabriella. "It's not right!"

Troy tucked a stray lock of curly hair behind Gabriella's ears. "I know..."

She collapsed back onto the bed, crying and curling herself up into the fetal position. Troy slowly lay down next to her, his face just inches away.

"Last night... I was thinking about her..." she sobbed. "There's so many things she's not gonna be able to do. She's never going to go to middle school, graduate high school, graduate college..." She let out another sob. "I'm not gonna be there to help her get ready for prom... or when she calls me to tell me she got engaged... or watch as you walk her down the aisle..." Troy felt her heart leap up into his throat. Had she said what he thought she said? "... or be there when she has her first baby..." Gabriella let out a despairing scream. "Troy! This can't be happening to me! She's not gone!"

Troy decided now would not be the best time to bring up what she'd said about him walking Eva down the aisle at her wedding. Instead, he said, "Gabriella... I know it's hard, but... no, scratch that. I'm sorry. I have _no idea_ what it's like... I don't know how you do it."

Gabriella blinked through her tears at him. He didn't know how she could see. "What?"

Troy shook his head. "You've been through so much as such a young age... you were raped and had to move away in your senior year... you moved away from so many great friends that loved you because someone took your innocence away... and then you were able to get yourself through college and to a job you love, while being a single parent..." Troy sighed and continued. "You had to go through the person who you loved the most not believing you about it... and then this." He sat up. "If I were you, I'd be dead."

Gabriella sat up slowly and wiped eyes with her sleeve. "You really think I'm strong?"

"I _know _you are," responded Troy. "You're the strongest person I know. I don't know anybody who could go through all that you've gone through."

She blinked at him and then gave him a small watery smile. She leaned forward and gave him the smallest of pecks on the lips, so softly that Troy wasn't sure if he felt it. Then Gabriella put her head on his shoulder and whispered, "I forgive you."

* * *

Troy and Gabriella got to the church a little late, after most of the others had arrived. Gabriella spent a good twenty minutes hugging their old friends. Sharpay, Taylor, and Kelsi all sobbed with her while Chad, Jason, Zeke, and Ryan kissed her on the cheek and spoke with higher voices than usual.

There were more people there than Troy had expected Eva's friend from school, Zack, was there with his mother, and Gabriella's grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins had all flown in from various parts of the country. There were also a many strangers there, since Eva's death, and the shooting, had been making headlines in their local newspaper ever since it happened. The shooter had committed suicide at the scene, like had happened with so many other similar cases.

After a half hour of greetings, Troy, Gabriella, and Maria took seats in the front row of the church, and the service started.

After the minister of the church spoke for a moment about death and letting go, he announced, "Eva's mother, Gabriella Montez, would like to make a eulogy," before sitting down.

Gabriella stood up, her legs trembling, and started to walk towards the front of the church. Then she spun around and whispered tearfully, "Troy... please come with me."

He didn't even hesitate. Jumping up, he grasped Gabriella's hand tightly in his own as she led up him up to the front.

She took a deep breath before speaking into the microphone, "Thank you all for coming." Troy squeezed her hand comfortingly. "Um... well... as you all know, Eva's death came as a huge shock for all of us." She swallowed. "Me, especially. At the hospital... they said she would be okay... but, well, I guess they were wrong." She glanced at the coffin, which was open, revealing Eva's pale, peaceful face.

Gabriella couldn't take it. She collapsed upon sight of her dead daughter's face and sobbed on the ground. Troy bent down and hugged her. He whispered in her ear, "You can do this. You're strong."

She sniffed and nodded against his chest. She stood up shakily, leaning on Troy for support. When they came into view of everyone again, they could see that they were all in tears.

"I'm sorry," said Gabriella softly into the microphone. "I just... I really don't know what I'm going to do. Eva told me, right before she died, that she didn't want me to cry." They heard Taylor let out a loud sob. "She told me not to be sad," said Gabriella, her voice squeaking. "She told me to be happy. But I just can't. Not without her."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, controlling her tears.

"When I found out I was pregnant with her... well, I thought my world was over. Not all of you know this, but... Eva is the victim of a rape."

Gasps sounded throughout the room. The only people that knew about it was her mother and, more recently, her friends. Her grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and Zack and his mother had no idea.

"I'm sorry that not all of you knew that... it might've made things a little less awkward at family reunions-," a small laugh rose from the section of the pews containing her family, "-but I just didn't want people to know. I didn't want to be pitied... I thought my life was over. But Eva turned out to be the biggest blessing of all. She was gorgeous from the moment she was born, and she was intelligent beyond anything I could have imagined. In fact, after the first week of kindergarten, the teacher called and asked if I would like it if she moved up to first grade, since she was so advanced. I didn't really want her to, because I didn't want her to be the youngest in the class..." She shuddered. "But now that I think about it, I should have." She let out an involuntary sob.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered again. Troy tightened his hold around her waist, and she took another breath and started again. "Last night, I started thinking about all the things that I wouldn't be able to do with Eva." Troy felt his stomach drop; he wished she wouldn't think this way. "Eva is never going to go to prom – well, now that I think about it, I didn't go to my senior prom. Just junior prom." She let out a tiny laugh. "But she's not going to get to graduate high school. Or college. Or get married. Or have her first child." Gabriella took a deep breath. "But at the same time, Eva had a great life. Not long, but a good one. She may not have had any siblings, or lots of money, or lots of friends, or a father-," she glanced quickly at Troy. "But she did have me. And my mother. And not only that, but she taught me a valuable lesson, which was that there is always something to be happy for. And she brought me back together with someone I love." She looked at Troy and he stared back. Did she really love him? "Thank you."

She led Troy back to their pew and they sat, side by side, hands intertwined. Maria gave Troy a smile through her tears.

The minister went back up and said a few more things before the service ended and the duet that Troy and Gabriella had sung in the musical, What I've Been Looking For, began to play, driving Gabriella to tears again. Everybody lined up to say their good-bye's to Eva, and Gabriella, Troy, and Maria stood next to the coffin, shaking people's hands as the song repeated itself.

Many of the strangers hugged Gabriella, saying over and over again how sorry they were for the tragedy. Gabriella hugged them all back, crying while Troy kept his hand on her shoulder.

After the people they didn't know all left, they had two black stretch limos bring Gabriella, Troy, Maria, the rest of her family, Zack and his mother, and their seven friends to the cemetery, where Eva was to be buried.

Before they'd closed the coffin, Gabriella had placed a single white rose on her daughter's chest and whispered, "I love you," tears dripping onto her lifeless body. As they lowered her to the ground, Gabriella sobbed and wept into Troy's chest, causing him to get a huge wet spot on his shoulder, but he didn't mind. Everyone had cried.

After that, they'd had the limos take them back to Troy's house, where they'd hired a caterer to come set up the food, so when they got there everything all ready. Everyone sat around the house, sipping wine and eating, trying to make idle chit-chat, but everything seemed so... wrong.

"Oh, Gabriella!" cried Sharpay, throwing her arms around Gabriella's neck and hugging her so tightly that her face had turned slightly blue by the time Sharpay released her. "I can't believe all of this happened to you, I feel so terrible-,"

"Don't," said Gabriella earnestly. "I understand."

"No, but we were_ horrible!_" Sharpay informed her. "I can't even believe we could be so bad-,"

"It's okay," Gabriella said weakly.

Taylor burst into tears again and embraced Gabriella, so tightly she thought she was going to explode.

"Taylor..." gasped Gabriella. "Let go..."

Chad, looking strangely pale, put his arm softly on Taylor's shoulder. "Come on, Tay. You're choking her." When Taylor let go of her, still weeping, Gabriella noticed a gold wedding band on Chad's hand.

"You guys are married?" she asked weakly, feeling her heart drop. She'd missed her two best friends' wedding...

He nodded. "For a year." Noticing her expression, he quickly added, "We would've invited you, but... we didn't know where to send the invitation," he finished lamely.

She smiled a little. "Don't worry. I know that's not why, but I don't blame you."

"We're sorry, Gabriella!" sobbed Taylor from inside Chad's arms. "We should've invited you, we were terrible people-,"

"It's not your fault!" Gabriella assured her, feeling bad for ever having brought it up. She didn't want Taylor to feel guilty about her wedding during Eva's funeral. "I understand completely."

Taylor shook her head but said no more, tears splashing onto Chad's shoulder.

Gabriella then chanced a look at Sharpay and Kelsi's left hands, and saw that they both wore engagement rings on their fingers.

"So you two are engaged?" said Gabriella lightly.

The two of them nodded. "Zeke and I are planning our wedding for April," Sharpay explained.

"And Jason and I are getting married in June," added Kelsi. "Hope you can make it."

Gabriella nodded enthusiastically. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Ryan put his arm around Gabriella and squeezed her shoulder lightly. "So how are you holding up?" he asked gently.

She turned her head up and offered a small smile. "I'm doing alright." She'd always looked at Ryan like an older brother, and she was glad that he and all her friends were back together.

Troy slipped her arms around her waist, holding her protectively, and soon she found all of her friends had their arms around each other, forming a tight circle. Taylor was still crying, though not as hard, and Sharpay and Kelsi had a couple tears rolling down their cheeks.

"I wish we could have met Eva..." said Kelsi softly from her spot in between Troy and Jason. The other six nodded in agreement.

"I'm sure she was such a remarkable little girl," Ryan said. Gabriella heard herself let out a sob, and every head turned toward her.

"She must've been; look at her mother," said Sharpay earnestly.

"She was," Troy informed them. "The sweetest little girl you could ever have imagined."

Gabriella heaved a shaky sigh, trying to control her cries. "I love you, Eva," she whispered, her eyes closed tight.

"We all love you, Eva, even if we didn't know you," said Sharpay.

Troy added, "And we all love you, Gabriella."


	8. Chapter 7

**AN:** Hello all. Remember that story I told you I was writing, called _The Light of Love_? Well, I'm not sure I'll ever post it, because it's an idea similar to another story's idea. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, as I would just message the author and tell them I was writing a similar story but I was not plagiarizing; however, in a review to this story, I asked the author a question about something in their story and, well... needless to say, they hate me now. I guess I was being extremely rude (although it was just a simple question that was in no way a flame), and "no one ever talks to them like that." So I have a feeling that if I were to post this story, they would report it and have it deleted, even if I told them I wasn't copying. But we'll see!

And I'm writing _another_ new story (I get way too many ideas for things), called _Almost Happily Ever After_, which I probably _will_ post, so stay tuned!

Just one chapter left!

**Title: **_Time Will Tell  
_**Rating:** _T  
_**Author: **_MadiWillow  
_**Summary: **_Gabriella is raped in senior year and falls pregnant. Without telling her friends about it, she and her mom move to Florida. Six years later, she sees an old friend... and it all goes downhill from there.  
_**Genre:** _Romance/Tragedy  
_**Chapter: **_Chapter 7_

Over the next few days, things seemed to calm down. Chad, Taylor, Sharpay, Zeke, Ryan, Jason, and Kelsi all had to go back up to Monte Vista, since they couldn't miss more work. But Taylor and Chad promised to come back down the following weekend.

Maria left on Sunday, satisfied that Troy could take care of Gabriella. She also promised to come back as soon as she could.

Gabriella was still staying at Troy's place, and Troy was worried that she was never going to be able to go back to her house. So finally, on Sunday afternoon, he sat her down and said, "Gabriella, are you planning on going back to your house?"

Her eyes had filled with tears, as was prone to happen almost all the time. "Why? Do you not want me here anymore?"

"No!" said Troy quickly. "It's not that at all! But, if you don't wanna go back to your house, you could move in here... permanently."

Gabriella's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean, if you want to," he said. "But it might be better for you to move in here instead of continuing to pay mortgage on a house you're not living in... and here you'd only have to pay for half."

She blinked a couple times before smiling slightly. "You'd really let me live here?"

"Of course!"

She took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay. Can you take me down there to get my stuff?"

"Sure. Now?"

"Um... yeah. I have to go back to work tomorrow, so it might be good to do it now."

Troy nodded and they stood up. He quickly grabbed his keys before leading her out to his car.

As they drove, he asked, "Are you sure you're ready to go back to work?"

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah. The school offered me another week off, but... I can't."

"Why not?"

"I can't be selfish, Troy. My students need a real teacher who actually knows the subject, not some English substitute reading from a textbook. Besides, I missed three days. It's about time I went back."

Troy just nodded. After a few more silent moments they reached her house. It looked so empty; depressing. Gabriella started to tear up just from the sight of it. The last time she'd been in that house, Eva had been alive.

She unlocked the door and entered the dark house, with Troy right behind her. She turned on the lights and felt her heart rip apart at the sight.

Eva's abandoned toys were littered all over the family room, and her book was lying open on the kitchen table. As they proceeded into her daughter's room, she saw it was exactly the way she'd left it that Wednesday morning. The barbie bed was unmade, her toys and videos were scattered along the ground, and she'd been in the middle of playing Life with her stuffed animals.

Gabriella burst into tears at the sight of it and leaned against the door frame before sliding down to the ground. Troy immediately came up behind her and hugged her, his head in the crook of her neck. As she sobbed into the wall, Troy murmured, "Shhh, it's okay," soothingly into her ear until she calmed down.

She took a couple deep, steadying breaths before standing up. "Sorry, Troy," she said quietly, feeling ashamed. "It's just hard-,"

"Hey," said Troy, moving his hands up and down her arms. "You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for."

Gabriella turned around and gave him a small smile. "Thanks," she said quietly, wrapping her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. "You've been so great these past few days. I don't know what I would've done without you."

"I was more than happy to be there for you," said Troy quietly, hugging her back.

They stayed like that for a while, just enjoying being in each other's arms. Finally, Gabriella pulled away. "I don't know what I'm going to do with all her stuff..."

"You're not gonna keep it?"

She sighed and stepped carefully into the room, cautious not to step on or touch anything. "I'm too afraid to touch her things. I want to keep it just like she left it."

"But, if you sell the house..."

"I don't know what to do," she said miserably.

"Well... do you want me to move in here?"

"What?"

"If you want to stay here, I can stay with you..."

She shook her head. "No, I can't bear to live here anymore." She sighed again. "I guess I'd like to take all of her stuff with me, but..."

"But what?"

"Where would we put them?"

"Well," said Troy thoughtfully. "If you want, we can keep them in my – our – garage."

"That'd be great,"

"I have tomorrow off, so would you like me to pack all her stuff up while you're at work?"

Gabriella nodded. "And take _everything._ Leave nothing behind."

"Okay,"

"Well, you don't have to take her mattress and stuff, but all the sheets... and you don't have to take the furniture yet. We'll leave the furniture for later."

Troy grinned. "Okay."

"Would you mind keeping the furniture in the garage too?"

"No problem,"

Gabriella walked over to and slowly sat down on the bed, running her hand over the comforter absently. After a few minutes, Troy approached her and touched her shoulder. "Gabriella, you need to get your stuff."

She nodded slowly, still looking at the empty bed. Then she stood up shakily, and Troy placed his hands on her waist to steady her.

"Thanks,"

For the next hour, Gabriella packed up all of her stuff. She used all of her suitcases, and even a couple boxes from her garage, to get all of her shoes, clothes, makeup, jewelry, and personal belongings. Troy helped her load everything into his car, and right before they left, Gabriella took a picture of her and Eva off the wall and kept it on her lap the entire ride back to Troy's house, staring at it.

When they got there, Troy asked her, "Are you gonna wanna go back for anything else?"

"Besides Eva's stuff? Well, yeah, probably," answered Gabriella, still staring at the picture. Once all her stuff was in the guest room (now known as Gabriella's room), she locked herself in.

That night, Troy couldn't get to sleep. He was confused about his relationship with Gabriella, above anything. Did she really love him? She hadn't done or said anything on the matter since the funeral, and Troy was afraid to ask her. She had just lost her daughter four days earlier; it was too soon to grill her about where they stood.

But he really wanted to know.

Finally he couldn't take the endless staring at his ceiling, so he got up and went into his kitchen to get a cold glass of water. He drank it within seconds, the iciness chilling his throat. However, it seemed to waken him up instead of making him sleepy.

As he was passing by Gabriella's room, he thought he heard her voice from inside of it. He pressed her ear against the door quietly and strained his ears.

After a couple of seconds her heard her singing, ever so softly, "I still hear your voice when you sleep next to me... I still feel your touch in my dreams... forgive me, my weakness, but I don't know why... without you it's hard to survive..." and then she stopped and he heard her sniffing and gasping; she was crying again.

He knocked on the door quietly and she immediately stopped. Then she said, as if trying to keep her voice normal, "Uh, Troy?"

"Yeah," he said through the door. "Can I come in?"

Pause. "Um, why?"

"I heard you crying,"

Gabriella stammered, "Um, no, I wasn't..."

Troy opened up the door anyway to find her sitting up in bed, her hair up in a messy bun, wearing her old East High t-shirt. "Gabriella, it's okay to cry," he said softly as he sat down next to her. "It's only been four days. You're allowed to cry." He stroked her hair. "You can cry for your entire life."

"But..." she stuttered, her eyes filling again. "I want to be strong."

"Why?"

"Because you said I was," she cried, her eyes becoming waterfalls again. "And Eva didn't want me to cry... I feel like I'm failing you two by crying..."

"Oh, Gabriella." Troy put his arms around her and hugged her tightly. "I don't want you not to cry because I said you were strong. You _are _strong, and I expect you to cry. Crying is the least someone can do when a person close to them dies. You're strong because you're still living; you're still getting through every day life. And," he broke away from her and looked deep into her chocolate brown eyes. "You can still find the strength to love again." He paused. "Right?"

She blinked at him a couple times before looking away. Troy mentally slapped himself. _What is wrong with you?_ He cursed himself. _Her daughter just died, and you're asking her to tell you whether or not she really loves you?_

"I'm sorry," said Troy quickly. "I really am, I shouldn't have-,"

"Troy-,"

"Sorry," Troy said shortly, getting up and striding towards the door.

"Troy, please, listen!" wailed Gabriella from behind him.

He instantly stopped walking and turned around.

"Please, just wait," she said softly.

Troy nodded and came back towards her, sitting at the foot of the bed, waiting.

Taking a deep breath, Gabriella started. "You deserve an explanation. I mean, I kissed you and then pretty much announced to a whole church full of people that I loved you. But then I don't even bring it up-,"

"Gabriella, its only been a day and a half," said Troy gently. "It's fine."

"No, it's not," she argued. "I should've explained myself right away." Pausing briefly, she added, "But maybe you should ask me what's been worrying you."

Troy paused too. "Gabriella, really, you don't have to do this now-,"

She put her fingers to his lips and said, "Yes, I do."

Troy blinked and sighed. She removed her fingers and he asked, "I just want to know if you really do love me. I mean, were you just saying it in the moment? Was it just something that slipped out but didn't mean anything? Was that kiss just a friend thing?" He took a deep breath.

Gabriella took a moment to answer. "Of course I wasn't just saying it in the moment," she finally said. "And it _did_ slip out, but that doesn't mean I didn't mean it. And no. That kiss was definitely not a friend thing. But, I just feel so bad... I mean, Eva just died! I feel like I shouldn't be falling in love so soon! But then again," Gabriella seemed to be talking to herself more than Troy now. "Eva was my daughter, so it's not like she'd care. In fact, this is what she wanted. It was her dying wish!" She looked back into Troy's eyes. "I'm so confused, Troy."

Troy pulled Gabriella into his arms and rocked her back and forth slowly. "It's okay, Gabriella. You don't have to make a decision right now. I can wait."

She pulled away and look deep into Troy's clear blue eyes. "But I already made my decision. I love you, Troy, and I want to be with you forever.

He grinned. "Really? You mean it?"

"I mean it,"

Troy swooped down and engulfed her in a passionate kiss.

They kissed for a few minutes before Troy pulled away. "And... um... what did you mean when you said that I'm never gonna be able to walk Eva down the aisle at her wedding?"

She blinked at him quizzically. "What?"

"Remember... right before the funeral, you were thinking about everything that Eva wouldn't be able to do in her life... and you said that?"

Gabriella stared at him for a few more seconds before blushing furiously. "Oh! Yeah, I remember..." she laughed nervously. "That night I had a dream of Eva's wedding, with you walking her down the aisle... I guess that's where that came from."

Troy couldn't ever remember loving Gabriella more than at that moment. He leaned in and kissed her again, but this time she pulled away.

"I-I just need to say this first," she said uncomfortably. "Um..." She let out a tiny laugh. "This is kind of embarrassing..."

"Remember, you can tell me everything," Troy reminded her, stroking her hair.

She smiled slightly. "I know..." Gabriella breathed in and then said, "I don't want to have sex... yet. I'm just not ready."

Troy nodded understandingly. "I expected that. Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine with just kissing you."

And, grinning, he leaned in for more.


	9. Epilogue

**AN:** The epilogue of TWT! So sad! The story is over... but don't worry, I have 2 more stories in the works while will both hopefully be better than this one and WSB. Not that those are bad, but there's always room for improvement. So don't forget to put me on Author's Alert so you'll know EXACTLY when I post them :-)

I may write a sequel to this story, because it would be different from other Troyella-grown-up stories with the fact that Gabriella is in mourning of a daughter. But at the same time I might not. My 2 other stories are in early production and I want to finish them before I post them (which I did with this and WSB). But perhaps I'll surprise you guys one day... who knows?

This is really short, I'm sorry!

**Title: **_Time Will Tell  
_**Rating:** _T  
_**Author: **_MadiWillow  
_**Summary: **_Gabriella is raped in senior year and falls pregnant. Without telling her friends about it, she and her mom move to Florida. Six years later, she sees an old friend... and it all goes downhill from there.  
_**Genre:** _Romance/Tragedy  
_**Chapter: **_Epilogue_

The next few weeks passed in one happy and sad blur. Troy and Gabriella were able move all her and Eva's possessions into Troy's home, and Gabriella's house sold within days. Their friends came back to visit a couple times, glad to catch up with Gabriella and to be able to laugh and joke with her, like old times.

Gabriella was able to put on a happy face while in public, but almost every night she cried herself to sleep in Troy's arms. She was no longer ashamed of it; she'd realized now that being strong had nothing to do with crying. Crying was just a way of letting go.

Sometimes, Gabriella and Troy would talk late into the evening, talking about things. They talked about their future, their past, and sometimes random things. They didn't know where they were going to end up; if they were just going to be like this for the rest of their lives, if they were going to get married, or eventually have kids. They didn't know.

Having kids was an extremely sore subject for Gabriella. She wasn't sure if she wanted kids again. Troy hadn't yet told her this, but he'd always wanted to have five kids. He was afraid she's get upset. He'd just have to leave that for the future.

And that's where we find Troy and Gabriella, on New Years Eve, over two months since Eva's tragic death.

They'd spent the night alone, celebrating not only the New Year, but marking the eight years since they'd met; since their lives had changed forever.

Now they lay cuddled in bed, under the covers, just holding each other. Gabriella was shivering from the slight chill, and Troy was rubbing her arms slowly, loving the feeling of her in his arms; loving the way they just seemed to melt together.

"Troy," said Gabriella suddenly. "What's going to happen to us?"

"What do you mean?" Troy asked sleepily.

"I mean... in the future. What do you think the future holds for us?"

Troy shrugged. "I don't know."

Shifting in Troy's arms, Gabriella started into Troy's clear blue eyes. "Do you think I'll ever get over Eva?"

He blinked at her. "No, of course not."

Her mouth opened slightly. "What?"

"Of course you're never going to get_ over_ her," explained Troy. "I don't have a kid, but I know that this isn't something that you get over. It's something you learn to live with."

She nodded. "Well, do you think I'll ever learn to live with it?"

"You _have,_" Troy reminded her. "You've been able to live with it since it happened."

Gabriella sighed deeply and settled herself into Troy's arms again. "Do you think I'll ever stop crying myself to sleep?"

"Who knows," he said quietly. "But there's nothing wrong with crying, remember?"

"I know," she sighed again. "But I hate it."

Troy looked down at the top of Gabriella's head, stroking her hair. "That's okay," he told her soothingly.

Gabriella wrapped her arms around Troy again, breathing in deeply against him. After a few more moments, she asked, "Do you think we'll ever get married Troy? Or... have kids? Be like a normal family?"

He shrugged, and then grinned up at the ceiling.

"Who knows, Gabriella," he repeated. "Only time will tell."


End file.
